Dwight got hammered by the officials (again) tonight. Some of those fouls were just horrible. I know people are saying he needs to play smarter but plain and simple those werent fouls. They damn sure weren't fouls on the other end of the floor.

I don't always bring down the hammer but when I do it is usually to a troll! Stay TROLL FREE my freinds!

"The first time I ever saw my uniform hanging in the locker I put it on right away, and it just felt like I was putting on golden armour. From that day forward, I just called it 'the golden armour', it just felt like there was something mystical and magical about it" - Kobe Bryant.

got in foul trouble both his fault and the refs but when he was in he did good things. played good D and challenged shots and off the pnr he made some great passes and reads. def wasnt a good game by any means bc he needs to be smarter but he did make good plays in the 4th and OT before fouling out

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Dwight Howard was sitting down on Friday, which is good considering the topics at hand.

His surgically-repaired back that still isn't right yet. The Lakers' defense that's in need of a heart transplant. The reputation that he's still trying to repair after the tumultuous path he took to get here.

It made all sorts of sense that Howard stayed seated for this weighty discussion.

While Steve Nash would make his return the following night, the two-time MVP point guard bringing his offensive wizardry back to the Lakers in a 118-115 overtime win at Golden State that was the fourth in a row for the 13-14 squad, Howard's focus both then and now is on the other end. This Lakers team that features a three-time Defensive Player of the Year (Howard), a nine-time all-defensive first team player (Kobe Bryant), and a fellow former Defensive Player of the Year (Metta World Peace) is ranked an inexcusable 16th in defensive rating (102.2 points allowed per 100 possessions).

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Howard is well aware that the Lakers' demise comes with a ripple effect, his name as the best defender in the game dishonored a little more with every hapless defensive effort. For all the silliness that never stops with Howard, he has no shortage of pride. What he doesn't have and so badly needs, however, is the physical capability to play like the dominant force he's been for most of eight seasons.

Howard is progressing quickly these days, but he said he's still feeling the effects of the April surgery to repair a herniated disk. In other words, Dwight Howard still isn't Dwight Howard just yet.

"I'm still in that process," Howard said in an extensive interview with USA TODAY Sports at the team's practice facility. "People don't understand that. They just come out and see me make a couple dunks and blocks and say, 'Oh, he's back.' But it does take a while for all this stuff to heal. This is not something easy, so I understand that. It will come."

Just not quickly enough for his or Lakers fans' liking.

While Howard's production is at a high-level (he's averaging 17.8 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game), the nuances of defense can't be found in a box score. He still gets tired, which means he doesn't scramble from end to end like he used to or always finish plays. He's still learning his teammates' tendencies as defenders, still deciding when to bite his tongue about their deficiencies and – as was the case in a Dec. 5 game at New Orleans when Howard and Bryant got in a shouting match – when to speak up.

Howard has routinely cited the nerve damage that was done when he injured his back last season, when doctors told him to either have surgery right away and miss the Magic's playoff run or run the risk of never playing again. But the part that he's kept quiet is the lingering effects of the procedure.

"Tingling in my legs all the way down to my feet," Howard said as he described his current state. "There's times when sometimes I really can't even feel my feet. (The doctors) said that's going to happen. It takes at least nine months for you to get strength back in your legs and all that stuff. So I'm still in that process."

The conditioning is equally important when it comes to Howard's game, as his ability to not only outmuscle opponents but to outwork them has been his calling card until recently. The lungs, just like the legs, are slowly coming back to him.

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"I'm (still) getting super tired," said Howard, who had just 11 points, six rebounds, two blocks, and one steal against the Warriors before fouling out with eight seconds left in overtime. "At the beginning of the season, I was getting tired in the first quarter, after a couple of possessions. Sometimes I'm a little winded come second half, where it takes me a little longer to get going. I understand it's a process. By the end of the year, I should be in great shape. I've never taken six months off of anything.

"The biggest thing about playing defense is that it's not just heart, but just being in shape. You've really got to be in shape to get down in a defensive stance, slide with a man, especially these guards. And then when they turn the corner, try to meet them at the rim. You have to be in great shape. And for the most part of my career, I've been in tip top shape where I could play 40 minutes nonstop without getting tired. And now I'm just not there.""

***

Howard didn't forget the homework he assigned to the media on Thursday, when a reporter's question about defense and who was the most dominant in the NBA land inspired the Lakers center to play the part of professor and demand that some research was done.

There was, he had indicated for the second time in these last few months, a problem with this premise that New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler was the defensive catalyst that the media had made him out to be last season. This was the three-time Defensive Player of the Year discussing the rival big man who kept him from joining Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace as the only players to win a fourth, so tact would take a backseat to truth as he made his feelings known about the player who he'll see yet again on Christmas Day at the Staples Center.

When Friday rolled around, the topics had changed for everyone besides Howard. His lesson was far from done.

"Did you check the stats?" he said to this reporter on Friday.

The numbers, as he had hinted, don't lie.

Howard only missed 12 games in the lockout-shortened, 66-game season because of his injury, and his damage done defensively was impressive: 10.8 defensive rebounds per game (led the league), 2.1 blocks (third), and 1.5 steals (led all centers). Chandler, by comparison, was just seventh in defensive rebounds (6.5 per game), 11th in blocks (1.4) and sixth in steals (0.9).

But individual defensive legacies are most often born out of collective success, and Howard undoubtedly paid the price for the fact that the Magic fell from third in defensive rating in 2010-11 (99.1) to a mediocre 13th last season (101.7 and, ironically, tied with the Lakers). Chandler, meanwhile, received enormous credit for the defensive strides made in his first season in New York: the Knicks finished fifth in defensive rating (98.4) after they were 21st the season prior (106.9).

The equation isn't nearly as simple as Howard makes it out to be, as the reality of his situation is that he'll be held accountable for the Lakers' defensive fate just as he was with the Magic. To that end, he knows it may still take time to turn a corner with this group. It goes well beyond Howard, Bryant and World Peace, with everyone – yes, even the defensively-challenged Nash – needed to improve on that end.

"This year, (fans and media) look at our defense and basically (see that) it's terrible," Howard said. "I need to step my defense up (but) the teams I've been on, they've played great team defense. And the reason why is because we were in our spots, we talked, we communicated, we had chemistry. We didn't start off that way. Our team was just as bad when I first got to Orlando as far as defense. But the more time we spent together, the better we got. And then that's where I got better as a defensive player."

The Magic were ranked 18th in defensive rating during Howard's rookie season (2004-05), then 22nd his second season, then made serious strides from there: seventh in 2006-07, then fifth, first in the 2008-09 season when they fell to the Lakers in the Finals, first again, then third in 2010-11.

"It wasn't just me blocking shots, it was being active on pick and rolls, and knowing that I have people behind me who are going to get steals and try to play their best one on one defense and just bring their man to the paint and make them finish on me," Howard said."

But that's not happening yet with the Lakers, which has everything to do with his decision to call Bryant out for a defensive lapse in that Dec. 5 game. The moment, Howard admitted, was significant for their relationship.

"I think it is (big), but I've never been afraid to speak my mind," he said. "I'm a person that, for the most part, I keep stuff to myself. I'm not big with confrontation. But I just understand that this team has the capability of being special, to do some special things with what we have. But everybody has to buy into it, and it starts on defense. And we'll all get there, but there are just certain things that I have to see from this team and from myself."

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While Bryant is the one with the storied past and present with these Lakers, Howard is seen by both them and him as the future. He has yet to make any promises about re-signing with the Lakers when he becomes a free agent this summer, but continued to sound as if his plans don't include any other teams. The power shift, he made clear, is already underway.

"I know who (Bryant) is to this team, what he has been to this team for a long time," Howard continued. "But there's going to come a day where he's going to be gone, and that's when I have to step in and fill that void and take this team to the next level. That's why I'm here. That's why they wanted me here, and I'm going to do my job and my part to make sure this team gets there – and it starts with me.

"Even now, it starts with me. That's why I come in, and I work as hard as I can every day, don't take days off and all that stuff because I want to show these guys that I'm all about winning and I'm all about making sure this team gets to the top. That's all we say. At the top is us. That's where we want to be."

"I know who (Bryant) is to this team, what he has been to this team for a long time," Howard continued. "But there's going to come a day where he's going to be gone, and that's when I have to step in and fill that void and take this team to the next level. That's why I'm here. That's why they wanted me here, and I'm going to do my job and my part to make sure this team gets there – and it starts with me.

"Even now, it starts with me. That's why I come in, and I work as hard as I can every day, don't take days off and all that stuff because I want to show these guys that I'm all about winning and I'm all about making sure this team gets to the top. That's all we say. At the top is us. That's where we want to be."

F*** yeah. I like where his head is at.

Everything he said in there was true. And I think you see that from some of the younger guys because younger guys respond to things more easily than older guys. Guys like Meeks, Hill, and Morris all can hear Dwight say "you guys need to do this!" and they'll respond more readily. Guys like Metta and Pau and Kobe all think "hey man, we have the hardware we don't have to listen to you." If not consciously then subconsciously. It makes it harder to lead when you are the younger guy.

All that being said, I see progress on that end. It won't be great for a while, but I think once things start clicking offensively then defensively things will pick a lot too.

Great read indeed, I don't think any of us knew the guy couldn't feel his feet out there sometimes, wow. I guess we see these well conditioned athletes and see them as superhuman, but he's right he sat around for 6 months, it takes a long time to feel 100% again after that. As for the game yesterday, refs wouldn't give him a call yet they called touch fouls on him. Honestly the thing that stood out to me last night was he hit 2 clutch free throws, easy to forget but they were huge, we probably lose if he misses.

Nice read! I love that he takes our defense or lack of it on some nights personally and as his responsibility to kick everyone's bleeps to make them understand and get with it. Even Kobe's. So we have couple of butt kickers on the team. Good I like it. Does sound like he's committed. Now stop with the stupid fouls already after you pick up the 1st.

Stop with the stupid fouls? He got jobbed last night. I agree he gets frustrated too easily trying to work for position, but since when is it his fault that the guy hanging on his back isn't strong enough to fight back when Dwight asserts himself?

I know Dwight said it's supposed to be normal in his quote ... but is it really normal that he's still experiencing tingling in his legs and not being able to feel his feet? Sounds a little disconcerting.

Helljumper wrote:I know Dwight said it's supposed to be normal in his quote ... but is it really normal that he's still experiencing tingling in his legs and not being able to feel his feet? Sounds a little disconcerting.

He said the doctors told him it's normal. If the doctors told him and they still cleared him to play, I have to think that it must not be a huge deal then.

Helljumper wrote:I know Dwight said it's supposed to be normal in his quote ... but is it really normal that he's still experiencing tingling in his legs and not being able to feel his feet? Sounds a little disconcerting.

He said the doctors told him it's normal. If the doctors told him and they still cleared him to play, I have to think that it must not be a huge deal then.

who knows, maybe an excuse that hes just horrible on offense? haha

joking aside, the alley oops/drunks that hes missing isnt normal, i can see hes not hundred percent.

but that has nothing to do with how consistently the dude gets stripped, he really needs to protect the ball or fake when he goes up. ridiculous.

Helljumper wrote:I know Dwight said it's supposed to be normal in his quote ... but is it really normal that he's still experiencing tingling in his legs and not being able to feel his feet? Sounds a little disconcerting.

No...no.... HE can heal differently from major back surgery.... I was told so a number of times by quite a few around here that any concern that I had that he was actually human was just me being a nervous nelly......

Lower back disk issues have derailed quite a few athletes. My guess is that he's going to deal with it for the rest of his life..... the ability to "Fix" back problems isn't anywhere near what it is for knees. I think he'll improve from this point but getting back to the pre-surgury levels will take some time if he can get there at all.

He's showing some improvement out there but he still looks slow compared to previous seasons.

As for his comments on the team defense.... again I thought I was told that Orlando didn't have as good team defense as any recent LA teams and it was all Dwight..... I could swear that there are stats that refute what Dwight said as well.

"If the past sits in judgment on the present, the future will be lost." Winston Churchill

“The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present - and is gravely to be regarded."Dwight Eisenhower

"Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it"Thomas Sowell

That article is a good read. He's not quite the same game changing presence pre-back surgery; you can tell especially watching him from Orlando to here with us. Even at his current state, he is playing well for the most part.

The guy was supposed to be out till January, plus the other center who would have been here instead would be out for the season, and even if 100% healthy would be just about equaling Dwight's production. He is still playing at a high level, just not his highest level yet.

Collective numbers and championships are more important in Lakerland than individual numbers and All Star games.....

The team has a chance to come together now that everyone is getting healthy. Hopefully Pau can either bring us some more appropriate pieces or find a way to contribute on a consistent basis because his value or contribution will be what makes or breaks us this year.

"If the past sits in judgment on the present, the future will be lost." Winston Churchill

“The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present - and is gravely to be regarded."Dwight Eisenhower

"Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it"Thomas Sowell